Cats are cuddly pets, but if they get into the wild they can cause native animals to become extinct. This has been the case in Australia. They hunt little marsupials until there are none left to eat then move on to consume something else. growing larger in the wild certainly help cats to survive very well indeed.

Where did the cats originally come from? It was thought that Asia was the most likely place as Asian fishermen came to Australia's northern shores well before Europeans. However, research shows that they did come on boats from European countries whether as "stowaways" or more likely brought as pets to remind new arrivals of home. Moreover, having cats to hunt rodents on European ships was common in the early 1800s.

Island cats were tested as they had not crossed with new cats imported from countries across the world, so the findings were accurate and Europeans are the culprits for spreading this pest. Keep your cat in the house and don't let it roam. "Darn! Gone again."

If you want to see weird animals go visit Australia. Most animals are spread throughout the world but Australian marsupials stay strictly at home on this "lost continent". Two hundred kinds of marsupials live only in Australia the kangaroo being the most commonly known.

When the platypus was first taken to England scientists of the day said it was a hoax, a made up animal. The koala seemed to be a cuddly bear. Unfortunately wild koalas can be very nasty and do not take kindly to being picked up. So aligned to its environment, the Tasmanian Tiger soon became extinct with the arrival of Europeans.

Besides marsupials, other creatures make life difficult for people living on this continent. Red back and funnel web spiders are dangerous. The box jellyfish also causes much pain to humans. Small animals have died from their sting. Don't let the presence of these put you off from a visit to this great country. Oh, I nearly forgot; crocodile lives up north.

The argument continues over whether humans were responsible for the extinction of megafauna. Giant emus, large kangaroos, marsupial lions and diprodons were destroyed by Aboriginals in Australia according to new research. This claim is based on fungi in dung of herbivores. For 130,00 years, despite dry periods, charcoal and pollen levels in dung remained the same until Aboriginals arrived. This means that climate change was not responsible for the extinction of megafauna 40,000 years ago.

There is a problem with this. When Captain Cook arrived in Australia the Aboriginal population was extremely low. Forty thousand years ago there would have been only a few hundred thousand of them. How could this low number possibly destroy all of the large animals? Some megafauna would have survived in regions where Aboriginals did not go. Australia is a very large continent.

It is claimed that when the megafauna died out the vegetation changed with more fires, and eucalyptus forests spread out killing off rainforests. Spores in dung is flimsy evidence to support a claim that human arrival led to the demise of megafauna. Rainforests being taken over by eucalyptus sounds very much like climate change. Furthermore. prevailing evidence shows no human remains among megafauna fossils.

Saying that the dung research proves humans destroyed giant animals is still not proven beyond doubt. Gavin Prideaux's announcement that the study "supported mounting evidence that climate change was not to blame" is premature.